Improvement in sex ratio, rise in infant mortality rate

8/4/2016 12:00:00 AM

According to Delhi’s Annual Report on registration of births & deaths which was released on Wednesday by Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, more girls were born in Delhi in 2015 as compared to the previous year. While that is a development for the national capital, a rise in the infant mortality rate has been seen.

“The situation is now getting better and Delhi has shown a healthy improvement in the sex ratio. Now, it is very difficult to get a sex-selective abortion done in Delhi. The rules are being followed strictly,” said Delhi Health Secretary Dr. Tarun Seem. Delhi’s sex ratio at birth increased by two points, from 896 to 898 in 2015. Infant mortality rate is the number of deaths of infants under one-year-old per 1,000 live births. Also, there were 8,695 infant deaths in 2015 as compared to 8,612 in 2014, taking the infant mortality rate up from 21.66 to 23.25. 83 more children below the age of one died in 2015.

“Infant mortality rate in Delhi decreased from 25 per thousand live birth in 2012 to 24 in 2013 and then 20 in 2014,” said Sisodia, quoting the Sample Registration System (SRS) data. Hypertension, which was the second major killer after Septicaemia, killed 6,200 people in Delhi in 2015.

The data showed that a total of 3,74,012 births were registered with the corporation in 2015, an increase of 319 registered birth from 2014. However, the birth rate – number of live births per 1,000 population – reduced from 20.9 in 2014 to 20.5 in 2015. “Institutional deliveries – births in hospitals and maternity homes -- increased from 81.75% in 2013 to 82.83% in 2014 and then 84.41 % in 2015. Of the 3.16 lakhs institutional births, about 2.12 lakhs (67.2%) births occurred in government hospitals in 2015,” said Sisodia.